Ride Scenic Trails On Well-Trained Horses

Come ride more than 10 miles of wooded trails at Dead Broke Farm – a 110-acre farm conveniently located in Raleigh, NC. Our bridle trails have rolling hills, creek crossings, lots of beautiful hardwood trees, and wildlife. Deer, cranes, and turkeys are often spotted on our trails. Our trails are suitable for beginners but challenging enough to be interesting for more experienced riders.

Located near I-40, I-540, Hwy 70, and Hwy 98 within 30 minutes from downtown Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Apex, Garner, Clayton, and Wake Forest.

Children must be 6 years old or older to ride on their own. The cost is the same regardless of age since everyone is provided with a horse. However, we do allow younger children who are 3 years old or older to go on our trail rides, but they are assisted by our experienced guides, and there is an additional $30 fee for the dedicated guide and the use of one of our large draft horses capable of carrying the big, oversized saddle and the weight of 2 riders. Six year olds have the option or riding double with a guide or riding on their own, but we need to know when you make the reservation if you want a dedicated guide. Otherwise, we  will assume they are riding on their own. If you have a 7-year-old or older child who wants to go with the rest of the family on a trail ride but is uncomfortable riding on their own, you can pay an additional $50 to have a walker lead their horse. However, there is an additional charge for a walker because it's challenging for a person to keep up with the pace of the horses who are being ridden on the trail - crossing creeks, navigating rocks, roots, and occassionally some muddy areas. It's also more resource intensive for the farm to staff additional guides to accommodate the dedicated walker request. We will need to know you would like to request a walker for your child when making your reservation to ensure that we are adequately staffed to provide one.

Trail Riding Schedule

We are open year-round for horseback riding 7 days a week, and we are open on ALL national holidays except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, That means we are open on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, George Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veteran's Day. 

Trail Riding Rates (cost per person)

The first hour costs $100/person for the 1-hour ride, but group discounts are available. Each additional hour after the first is $75/hour per person. Tips are appreciated, so...

If you enjoy your ride, tip your guide!

Additional fees that may be applicable:

• $30 fee for riders who weigh more than 200 lbs to help us offset the cost of feeding and shoeing our large draft horses.
• $30 fee for children under the age of six years old who need their own dedicated guide to ensure a safe riding experience.
• Private rides are available for an additional $75. The private fee is a flat fee and covers everyone in your group regardless of the duration of your ride. For example, you would add $75 to make a ride private for an individual doing a 2-hour ride. Similarly, the cost would be $75 extra for a group of 4 riders doing a 1-hour ride. In other words, the private fee is a fixed cost independent of the number of riders or how long you're riding. It's purpose is to help us fund an additional guide for your ride.
• Groups of 5 or more will have 15% gratuity added to their cost.

Notice: Cash Payments Only!

We no longer accept credit cards as a form of payment. You may use a credit card (Mastercard, Visa, Amex or Discover) to secure your reservation with a deposit, but no credit cards or checks will be accepted when paying your balance at our farm.

Optimize Your Horseback Riding Adventure

Feel free to bring bottled water with you. We recommend you wear long pants and closed toed shoes. Shorts are okay, if you don't mind possible chafing from the saddle or possibly a skinned knee if you allow your horse to get too close to a tree.

Please note that, depending on the number of riders, it will take up to an hour for us to get your up on your horses and headed down the trail. Expect longer wait times of about an hour and a half on weekends and holidays when we are busiest. We will ask you to complete a Release From Liability form, collect the balance of your payment, give you a brief (10 min.) riding demonstration, help you to mount your horses, adjust your stirrups, and make sure your saddles are tight before the start of each ride. However, there's no need to arrive in advance of your scheduled ride time.

We simply want to make you aware that it takes time for us to get you ready to ride, so you'll be at our farm a longer than the 1 or 2 hours that you are scheduled to ride. In any case, your ride doesn't officially begin until everyone is mounted and the horses leave the barn headed for the trail head.

Why Does It Take So Long?

When you make a reservation for a 1-hour or 2-hour ride, you are booking a riding experience - not a 1 or 2-hour time slot. We need to check you in by having you sign a Horseback Riding Liability Release Form and collecting your balance, provide riding instruction, assign everyone their horses, help everyone individually on their horse, properly adjust your stirrups, check to ensure the saddle is tight, and assist everyone over to the trail head to wait for us to mount and join you on the trail to guide your ride. And although we plan our work daily and work the plan, issues often arise that we have to react to. For instance: 1) We saddle for an average size 10-year-old, but when the child arrives, we see that they are significantly shorter or taller than the average 10-year-old, and we have to re-saddle their horse with the right size saddle to help ensure a safe ride, 2) the person who made the reservation was unaware that some of their guests weigh more than 200 lbs, which means we have to bring up bigger draft horses for them, brush and saddle them, which obviously takes us longer to get everyone on their horses so we can start the ride, 3) a child is fearful of their horse due to its height or because the horse is stoming its feet because of biting stable flies, and we have to see if another child is willing to switch with the timid child resulting in us having to help the child who was already on their horse to be taken down and helped onto another horse and stirrups re-adjusted, 4) as we are putting the ride out, we notice one of the horses is missing a shoe or is lame and has to be replaced with a sound horse, 5) Someone's child is fearful to go without a parent, and the parent adds onto the ride once they are already at the farm, so we have to go get another horse, groom it, and get it saddled for the ride, or 6) Someone is embarrassed about their weight and they don't disclose the fact that they weigh more than 200 lbs and need a big draft horse, so unfortunately we have to ask them to weigh in and then get them another horse that's appropriate to carry them safely. All of these situations that arise eat up valuable time but they cannot be dimissed if we are to do everything within our power to offer a safe riding experience for you.

Reservations and a $60 deposit are required to ensure availability, so call today, and get taken for a ride at Dead Broke Farm!

Gift Certificates Available